1. Field of the Disclosure
The following is directed to methods of forming bonded abrasive articles, and particularly directed to forming bonded abrasive articles having a glass-ceramic bond via sol-gel processing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Abrasives are generally utilized in various machining operations, ranging from fine polishing to bulk material removal and cutting. For example, free abrasives composed of loose particles are used in slurries for polishing applications such as chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) in the semiconductor industry. Alternatively, abrasives can be in the form of fixed abrasive articles such as bonded and coated abrasives which can include devices such as grinding wheels, belts, rolls, disks and the like.
Fixed abrasives generally differ from free abrasives in that fixed abrasives utilize abrasive grains or grit within a matrix of material that fixes the position of the abrasive grains relative to each other. Within the realm of fixed abrasive tools, generally there are two common types of fixed abrasive tools, coated abrasives and bonded abrasives. Coated abrasive articles generally include a layered article including a backing and an adhesive coat to fix abrasive grains to the backing, the most common example of which is sandpaper. Bonded abrasive tools can take various shapes including wheels, discs, cups, segments, and the like generally consisting of composites having abrasive grains contained within a three-dimensional bond matrix. Additionally, the bonded abrasive tools can include some volume percentage of porosity.
Various materials including metals, polymers, and vitreous materials have been used as the bond material in bonded abrasive tools. However, formation of the tools, particularly with regard to vitreous-based bond materials, has traditionally involved high temperature forming processes, which may present a host of problems, including for example, decomposition of the abrasive grains, non-uniform dispersion of the abrasive grains, cracking, shrinkage, slumping, non-uniform porosity, and the need for specialized starting materials.
Accordingly, the industry continues to need bonded abrasives having improved properties.